


Top Of The World

by MyChemicalRachel



Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: Mentions of Suicide, Misunderstandings, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-19
Updated: 2016-01-19
Packaged: 2018-05-14 23:45:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5763499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyChemicalRachel/pseuds/MyChemicalRachel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Frank sees a man sitting on the ledge of his apartment building.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Top Of The World

Frank didn’t have time to think. Coherent thoughts were lost, just flashes of indistinct pictures and words rocketing at high-speed through his mind. Move. Run.  _ Stop him. _ The sight of the man on the ledge of the apartment building, just as Frank had gotten home. The sudden need to be there, to pull him back. He was a complete stranger, but Frank reacted instantly, racing up the stairs two at a time to the roof.

Frank had been there before. Not the rooftop, but the sadness. The self-hatred. The anxiety and pressure to just end it all. His mind was a dark place during his high school years and Frank is ashamed to say he’d contemplated taking his own life more than once. But he survived high school. He went on to college and got a good job that he loves. He’s got friends. He accepted himself.

And so when Frank saw the man sitting with his legs dangling perilously off the edge of the building, Frank’s innate response was to save him.

Frank bursts through the door leading onto the rooftop in record time. He’s out of breath, the sound of his blood pulsing too fast, too hard, in his ears, and he’s shaking. But he doesn’t stop, he can’t. He looks around frantically. The sun setting on the city horizon paints the rooftop in orange and pink. The shadows are longer, darker, but after a second, Frank spots the figure on the ledge.

“Stop!” Frank hears himself scream. He races forward, hands out like he can catch the guy if the stranger decides to jump anyway.

The stranger on the ledge looks up, hazel eyes landing on Frank.

“Please, stop,” Frank pleads again, and this time he’s only a few feet away. His chest hurts from running and his voice sounds raw, but he doesn’t care. He made it in time. Now he just has to talk this guy down. “You don’t have to do this. Please, just come back over and we can talk, okay? What’s your name?”

The guy looks…  _ confused _ . He glances around like there’s someone else Frank might be talking to. But he sees no one. His brow furrows and he meets Frank’s gaze again, surprising Frank when he softly asks, “Are you okay?”

Frank gapes. “I’m fine,” He breathes out. “It’s you I’m worried about.”

The stranger frowns again. “Me?” And then he stands up. Frank’s heart stops, his blood freezes in his veins. He watches as the guy stands up on the ledge of the roof, prepared to grab him if necessary. But when the man jumps down, it’s not flailing toward the cement sidewalk below. It’s onto flat rooftop instead, landing right in front of Frank. Frank can’t contain the heavy breath that escapes him, relief flooding through his body. The stranger continues watching him carefully. “I’m Gerard,” He says, finally answering Frank’s previous inquiry.

Frank sighs again. “Gerard,” He repeats, and then adds, “Frank.”

“Frank,” Gerard nods slowly. “Are you alright, Frank? You look like you’re going to have a panic attack.”

“I almost saw your ass free-fall six stories!” Frank exclaims. “I think I’m entitled to a panic attack!”

Gerard narrows his eyes curiously. And then Frank can see it, the exact moment when Gerard puts everything together. “You thought I was trying to kill myself?”

Frank blinks a few times, then nods. “Well, yeah. Wait, you weren’t?”

Gerard chuckles, shaking his head. “No. I come up here to think sometimes, when I’m uninspired. I paint. And the view--” Gerard turns to look out over the cityscape, sighing in content. “It’s amazing. It makes me feel like I’m on top of the world.”

Frank understands what the man is saying, but he can’t really focus because his body is still trembling with the adrenaline, the fear.

Gerard turns to Frank then, a small smile tugging around the corners of his lips. “Wait, so you saw me up here, thought I was going to jump, and just raced over to save me?”

“Yeah,” Frank says, like the answer is obvious. Because, well, it is. He’s not going to just stand by and watch as someone ends their life, stranger or not.

“You don’t even know me,” Gerard marvels, and he sounds kind of awed by the fact that some stranger cares what happens to him.

“Well,” Frank shrugs. His breathing has mostly returned to normal and he manages to keep his voice steady when he suggests, “Maybe we should change that.”


End file.
